Randall F. Kaiden, J.D., LL.M.T., is a California Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorney. His practice is centered on estate planning, elder care law and the post-death administration of estates. Mr. Kaiden's practice goes beyond preparing wills and trusts to avoid probate and minimize taxes. Indeed, he is an expert with asset protection and government benefits, such as Medicaid, Medi-Cal, Social Security Disability, Medicare, and Veterans Pension Benefits. Mr. Kaiden holds a Masters in Tax and is VA Accredited to represent claimants before the Department of Veteran's Affairs. In addition, he is a Certified Estate Planning Law Specialist by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils as well as the 2017-2018 President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Southern California District. He has been recognized by his peers and the community at large and holds a perfect 10 out of 10 rating on AVVO legal for estate planning and elder law.

In law school, Mr. Kaiden clerked at the family law courts in downtown Los Angeles as well as in Santa Monica. While obtaining his post-doctoral degree in taxation (LL.M.T.), he worked at the Family Law Access Project in San Diego, where he successfully mediated dozens of divorces. To this day, that early experience shaped Mr. Kaiden's ideas about how to successfully draft estate and elder law plans, i.e., always with an eye toward conflict avoidance.

After obtaining his Juris Doctor and Masters Degree in Taxation, Mr. Kaiden practiced corporate tax at KPMG, one of the largest audit, tax and advisory firms in the world. The corporate, property, estate, gift, and generation-skipping tax experience he gained at KPMG has continually proved invaluable in his current practice of trusts and estates. Indeed, that groundwork was a fantastic foundation which prepared Mr. Kaiden for his future work with complex trust and transfer tax planning techniques, such as generation-skipping trusts, charitable trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, asset protection trusts, family limited partnerships as well as family limited liability companies.

In 1999, Mr. Kaiden joined the highly regarded firm of Staker & Esquibias, Tax & Estate Planning Attorneys, P.C. This is where he gained most of his formal training with revocable living trusts, tax planning trusts, probate and trust administration, Medi-Cal planning, Social Security Disability and elder law. Several years later, Mr. Kaiden opened his own law firm, focusing on trusts, probate and elder law.

Mr. Kaiden continues to practice in these areas of law today. He presently helps clients through his Los Angeles and Ventura County based law firm, Kaiden Elder Law Group, PC. His practice is focused on Probate Avoidance Trusts, Asset Protection Trusts, Special Needs Planning, Tax Reduction Trusts, Guardian Angel Trusts, IRA Retirement Trusts, Medi-Cal as well as Veterans Asset Protection Planning, Trust and Probate Administration as well as complex Trust Litigation.

Education

University of California, Los Angeles – B.A. Sociology, Business Emphasis Southwestern University School of Law – Juris Doctor University of San Diego School of Law – Masters in Taxation for Attorneys

Mr. Kaiden's practice surrounds three separate areas of law, which frequently overlap. The first area concerns individuals or couples planning for their possible incapacity and/or death. This is the traditional estate planning end of the practice which involves revocable living trusts, wills, financial powers of attorney, health care directives, and trust funding. Mr. Kaiden is also a special needs advocate who regularly deals with all types of special needs trusts. Finally, Mr. Kaiden regularly handles complex estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning with the use of generation-skipping trusts, charitable trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, family limited partnerships as well as family limited liability companies.

The second area of Mr. Kaiden's practice, focuses on elder law. Since many are still unaware of what exactly is “elder law,” a short explanation will be provided as follows: elder law addresses the issues of how to pay for long term care as individuals age. This area of law was relatively minor twenty years ago. Nowadays however, people are living longer and the costs of care keeping going up. In fact, most people are shocked to learn that long term skilled care costs can range from $8,000 to $24,000 per month in California. Thankfully, there are Veterans Pension Benefits as well as Medi-Cal Benefits that can help pay for part of, or even entirely pay for, those rising care costs. When people are likely to run out of resources, Mr. Kaiden guides them through the labyrinthic Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), and Veterans Pension Benefit rules. He also helps his clients establish asset protection trusts and subsequently apply for either, or both, of Medi-Cal and/or Veterans Benefits.

While the first two practice areas above address issues affecting people prior to death, Mr. Kaiden's third major practice area involves post-death concerns such as trust administration, probate administration, and estate as well as trust litigation. With proper planning, most people just need to deal with a little post-death trust administration. Unfortunately, a lack of planning or just plain poor planning sometimes gives rise to probates and litigation. Whether post-death administration issues are large or small, Mr. Kaiden tirelessly advocates for his clients in all of these areas to lessen the economic and emotional damage caused by such circumstances. He also delivers these services in an assuring and compassionate manner.

While Mr. Kaiden helps a broad range of people, the representation itself always stems from issues surrounding incapacity, long term care needs, legacy planning, taxation and death. Being that the results which occur from planning (or a lack of planning) in this type of law are fundamentally life altering, the practice of trusts, probate and elder law is oftentimes emotionally charged. That means that clients are not just looking for black letter law answers, but rather are looking for solutions to some of the toughest questions that life throws at people.

In his estate planning practice, Mr. Kaiden helps people of all ages and circumstances deal with the issues surrounding death and incapacity. For starters, almost everyone (regardless of age) who either owns a home, have assets which total over $150,000, or have minor children needs to engage in basic estate planning. Failure to do so, could result in disaster for their loved ones. This is even more pressing when there are blended families involved, children with special needs, a family business, or total assets exceed $11,000,000. In all of the latter situations, it is almost guaranteed that a lack of planning will result in fights, partially (or completely) disinheriting loved ones, and an overall loss in the value of assets to be transferred.

In his elder law practice, the clients of Mr. Kaiden are from a more limited pool than in his estate planning practice. While practically everyone needs estate planning, elder law is generally for people over the age of 65, with one or more younger family members currently (or soon to be) helping in some way with mom or dads care needs. The focus of the elder law practice is in obtaining either or both of, Medi-Cal Benefits and/or Veterans Pension Benefits without giving up all mom and/or dads resources. Because of the importance of Veterans Pension Benefits, Mr. Kaiden works closely with many veterans and their spouses. Most veterans and their spouses are shocked to learn that there are valuable benefits available to them. The full breadth of elder law planning is critical to ensuring that seniors do not end up broke in their golden years and are able to age with dignity. It is additionally crucial to ensuring that their younger family members have the resources available to promote and advocate for their care. While this type of planning is almost always incredibly complex, it is oftentimes a veritable necessity for families.

The representative clients in Mr. Kaidens post-death legal practice - which includes trust administration, probate administration, estate and trust litigation - are spouses as well as children of a deceased love one. In other words, Mr. Kaiden represents anyone who has suffered the loss of a family member. He helps his clients get through this tumultuous time with understanding and compassion, in the easiest, fastest, and most cost effective manner. When fights break out, he is there to ensure a positive result and he tirelessly advocates for his clients.

Mr. Kaiden's Active Memberships: American Bar Association, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Wealth Counsel, Elder Counsel, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, California State Bar Trusts & Estates Section, as well as the Santa Clarita Valley, San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, and Los Angeles County Bar Associations.

Awards: Certified Estate Planning Law Specialist by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils; 2017-2018 President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Southern California District; State Bar of California Wiley W. Manuel Award for distinguished Pro Bono Legal Services.

Lectures: Mr. Kaiden frequently lectures at banks, senior centers, and residential care facilities on a variety of trusts, probate and elder law topics. He also frequently provides free seminars to the public on these topics. If you are interested in booking a speaking engagement with Mr. Kaiden, simply contact us for more information.

Melissa Weyand

Melissa Weyand is a trusts and estates paralegal who directly assists Mr. Kaiden in the areas of estate planning, elder care law and post-death administration of estates. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the College of the Canyons in 2015 with an Associate of Arts degree in Paralegal Studies. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Azusa Pacific University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. Before joining Kaiden Elder Law Group, PC, Ms. Weyand interned at two prominent Santa Clarita law firms. Because of her passion for helping seniors, she decided to hone her skills and exclusively work in the trusts, estates and elder law fields. Besides work, Ms. Weyand enjoys giving back to the community and has volunteered at organizations such as Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, Carousel Ranch, and the Henry Mayo Home Tour League. In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family and friends in Santa Clarita.

All materials on this website are made available by Randall F. Kaiden, Esq., for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The transmission and receipt of information contained on this website does not form or constitute an attorney-client relationship. Also, pursuant to Rule 1-400(E) of the Board of Governors of the State Bar on Advertising and Solicitation, please be advised that the testimonials or endorsements here do not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding your matters outcome.

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